The USA Sevens rugby tournament returns to Las Vegas in 2016

USA and Fiji compete during the USA Sevens leg of the IRB HSBC Sevens World Series in Las Vegas in 2012.

USA and Fiji compete during the USA Sevens leg of the IRB HSBC Sevens World Series in Las Vegas in 2012.

(Jack Megaw)

Susan Stapleton

Love rugby? The USA Sevens International Rugby Tournament returns to Las Vegas through 2019. That means the three-day tournament comes back to Las Vegas March 4-6, 2016, after a week full of rugby events that start on Monday, Feb. 29, 2016.

Attendance at the tournament has more than doubled since it debuted in Las Vegas in 2010. This year, about 75,000 fans ventured to Las Vegas to watch the tournament at Sam Boyd Stadium, bringing an estimated $27 million into the economy.

This style of rugby is faster paced than traditional matches. Two seven-player teams compete in 14-minute matches. Shorter matches mean more games per day as well. Sixteen of the top international rugby sevens teams play 45 matches as they attempt to gain points in the HSBC Sevens World Series standings during the tournament.

Next year, rugby fans can see future rugby sevens Olympians in person as the players prepare for the 2016 summer games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Team USA recently secured its spot in the 2016 Olympic Games by defeating Canada at the June 14 Olympic qualifying event in Cary, N.C.